Martino : High Action / Low Action ?

[charles robinson]

There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?
Charlie

[RTFirefly]

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?
Charlie

I saw him recently and he certainly uses heavy gauge strings. It is
difficult to comment on the action because, sadly, I did not get a
chance to handle his guitar!

I have looked at some of the photo's I took and would guess that he
does not have an especially high action.

[charles robinson]

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?
Charlie

I saw him recently and he certainly uses heavy gauge strings. It is
difficult to comment on the action because, sadly, I did not get a
chance to handle his guitar!

I have looked at some of the photo's I took and would guess that he
does not have an especially high action.
--------------------------------------------------------
They look pretty low to me too.
Charlie

[Greger Hoel]

På Fri, 15 May 2009 18:19:21 +0200, skrev charles robinson

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?

From what I've read, mostly here, the reason his guitar is hard to play is
that he uses both heavy strings and high action.

[charles robinson]

Post by Greger Hoel
På Fri, 15 May 2009 18:19:21 +0200, skrev charles robinson

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?

From what I've read, mostly here, the reason his guitar is hard to play is
that he uses both heavy strings and high action.
--
http://www.opera.com/mail/

...

That would fit his own description of what was happening during the early
days. It's possible that he lowered them over the years. His sound though
would indicate a high action.
Charlie

[b***@hotmail.com]

Post by charles robinson

Post by Greger Hoel
På Fri, 15 May 2009 18:19:21 +0200, skrev charles robinson

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?

From what I've read, mostly here, the reason his guitar is hard to play is
that he uses both heavy strings and high action.
--
http://www.opera.com/mail/

That would fit his own description of what was happening during the early
days. It's possible that he lowered them over the years. His sound though
would indicate a high action.
Charlie- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

...

might be worth posting this question to the allaboutjazz.com thread
Pat Martino contributes to

[charles robinson]

Post by charles robinson

Post by Greger Hoel
På Fri, 15 May 2009 18:19:21 +0200, skrev charles robinson

Post by charles robinson
There seem to be some discrepancies in reports about Pat Martino's playing
action. He has been quoted as saying that guys like Kenny Burrell would have
to go get their own guitars when they wanted to sit in because they couldn't
handle his high action. Other articles say that he plays with heavy guage
strings and a very low action. Does anyone know which it is?

From what I've read, mostly here, the reason his guitar is hard to play is
that he uses both heavy strings and high action.
--
http://www.opera.com/mail/

That would fit his own description of what was happening during the early
days. It's possible that he lowered them over the years. His sound though
would indicate a high action.
Charlie- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

...

might be worth posting this question to the allaboutjazz.com thread
Pat Martino contributes to



That's not a bad idea. There are some guys on here who studied with him I
thought that maybe one of them would know.
Charlie

[Michael L Kankiewicz]

Post by Greger Hoel
From what I've read, mostly here, the reason his guitar is hard to play is
that he uses both heavy strings and high action.

I have read that in other places too.

[sheetsofsound]

back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

[pmfan57]

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

Of course, with those strings, the neck might warp on you any way,
giving you high action!

I haven't noticed enormously high action the recent times I have seen
him. Amazing he could have played that guitar back then.

They say no one could do much on Stevie Ray's guitar setup either,
except for him.

[charles robinson]

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

That's the kind of thing that I heard about him for years it is only
recently that I've heard anything different. It is interesting in that
choice of action , string gauge etc. can have a major effect on a players
sound, articulation etc. In an extreme example it would be hard to pull off
aspects of Jim Hall's style with Martino's set up and vice versa.
Charlie

[mark cleary]

This is why it is so important to have your guitar set up by a person
who knows your playing or you explain this to the repairmen. A real
guitar player who knows the guitar should have his guitar set up so that
it matches the player. This sounds almost too simple but it can be a
major issue if you get your frets dressed or set up and the repairman
simply goes by the "book." Some guitarist are capable of doing this
themselves but seems from my work they simply know what they need and
try to find a person to get the guitar to do what they want. Setting up
Jim Hall's guitar would require a much different attention than Pat's.

Mark Cleary plays Hollenbeck Jazz Guitars
Handmade http://hollenbeckguitar.com/

Post by charles robinson

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

That's the kind of thing that I heard about him for years it is only
recently that I've heard anything different. It is interesting in that
choice of action , string gauge etc. can have a major effect on a players
sound, articulation etc. In an extreme example it would be hard to pull off
aspects of Jim Hall's style with Martino's set up and vice versa.
Charlie

...

[t***@hotmail.com]

Post by charles robinson

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

That's the kind of thing that I heard about him for years it is only
recently that I've heard anything different.  It is interesting in that
choice of action , string gauge etc. can have a major effect on a players
sound, articulation etc. In an extreme example it would be hard to pull off
aspects of Jim Hall's style with Martino's set up and vice versa.
Charlie

...

FWIW 2 years ago I had an opportunity to watch PM give a demonstration
at one of the NAMM shows, his tech advised that he was currently using
a .052 set but with a .015 on the top E, his action was set lower than
before. He was using his PM model Gibson that day.
Skip

[charles robinson]

Post by charles robinson

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

That's the kind of thing that I heard about him for years it is only
recently that I've heard anything different. It is interesting in that
choice of action , string gauge etc. can have a major effect on a players
sound, articulation etc. In an extreme example it would be hard to pull off
aspects of Jim Hall's style with Martino's set up and vice versa.
Charlie

...

FWIW 2 years ago I had an opportunity to watch PM give a demonstration
at one of the NAMM shows, his tech advised that he was currently using
a .052 set but with a .015 on the top E, his action was set lower than
before. He was using his PM model Gibson that day.
Skip

[charles robinson]

Post by t***@hotmail.com

Post by charles robinson

Post by sheetsofsound
back in the day he used ridiculously high action and .016 - .058
strings. I could not play an F Barre chord on his guitar

That's the kind of thing that I heard about him for years it is only
recently that I've heard anything different. It is interesting in that
choice of action , string gauge etc. can have a major effect on a players
sound, articulation etc. In an extreme example it would be hard to pull off
aspects of Jim Hall's style with Martino's set up and vice versa.
Charlie

FWIW 2 years ago I had an opportunity to watch PM give a demonstration
at one of the NAMM shows, his tech advised that he was currently using
a .052 set but with a .015 on the top E, his action was set lower than
before. He was using his PM model Gibson that day.
Skip

...

Then it appears that his action has lowered over the years. This is
interesting to me because I've often wonder if certain guys styles evolve to
accommodate the instruments that they are playing or if it is the other way
around with guys adjusting their actions to accommodate the style that they
are trying to achieve. I suppose that is something that we will never know
for sure and that varies among individuals.
Charlie

[mikeo]

i remember reading an interview with Pat in which he said something
about his lack of right hand control (yeah right) caused him to break
alot of strings, so he favored heavy gauge. A tech friend of mine has
worked on his guitars before too and i recall he said he used a fairly
normal jazz set and replaced 1 and 2 with .015 and .018, IIRC.
this could all be a fuzzy recollection so take it as if you read it on
the internet or something.
=)